What drew you to submit to RED SKIES?
After Easter 2020, when I started to realize this was a thing that we were going to be in for quite a while, it hit me that these are the things the time periods I studied in English Literature are made of. And I wanted very much to be a part of what was inevitably going to be the era of COVID-19 literature, but I'm trash at poetry. Then I learned of this new press, run by the lovely Rachel, and Mandy who I've heard equally lovely things about, and saw it also accepted personal essays, and I thought how perfect! How has 2020 impacted your creative life? What do you miss most from pre-pandemic? I've felt a severe lack of motivation this past year which has been intensely frustrating. For the first time ever, I read almost nothing, and wrote less than usual. I've done some plotting, which I suppose was a start? I underestimated how much being able to go out and move around freely actually inspired me.
As for pre-pandemic life, I definitely miss movie theatres the most. Which is strange, considering the sheer amount of Netflix I've watched. What was it like coming from a university background and into the Algonquin College's Professional Writing program? What were your favourite elements of the classes? I liked University a lot, but the college experience was leagues better. I learned way more in the two years at Algonquin than I ever did at UOttawa (not that I didn't learn anything at University, they were great.) It was just a completely different experience. One of my teachers at Algonquin gave us a speech on our first day of class and said that college is, for many students, finishing school. And that's exactly what it turned out to be for me. My favourite elements were by far the ability to more easily make connections and friendships not only with other students, but even to a certain degree with the teachers. As a writer and editor for Voices in the Attic, what topics are you most interested in researching? Strangely enough, I've been getting more interested in the historical components of the horrors we've been writing about. It's not up yet, but most recently I've been working on an article about Poveglia Island, which has a long history as a quarantine island for the Bubonic Plague. I've done more research for that article than anything else, because it's been so interesting. So I think moving forward I'd like to do some more history-based horror writing for the site. What writers and artists currently inspire you? I've always had a fondness for Robert Frost's poetry. Ever since University, his words have always sort of floated around in my head. I used to have several of his poems memorized. In my head, that's how I'd like my poems to be, but I've yet to quite make them look like that on the page!
In terms of novel-writing, I'm always so inspired by Marissa Meyer. Is community important to your work? Are there any magazines or small presses that you have a special fondness for? Oh, I really like 3 Moon Magazine. I've yet to pluck of the courage to submit anything, but they always seem to have such interesting themes for each round of submissions. One was about unsent texts, and I have so many of those. I wanted to submit, but my anxiety talked me out of it and then the deadline passed. I've recently started to follow a lot more small presses though, and I'm hoping to pluck up the courage to submit more this year.
And of course, there's this little press, I'm not sure if you've heard of them, Splintered Disorder? I'm quite fond of them ;)